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Monday, July 15, 2013

Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein informed Rabbi Shmuel
Eliyahu on Monday evening that it would be inappropriatefor the latter to run
for the post of Sephardi chief rabbi, in light of certain contentious remarks
and the "legal difficulties" posed by his candidacy.

Eliyahu, the current chief rabbi of Safed and the son of
former Sephardi Chief Rabbu Mordechai Eliyahu, has been embroiled in
controversy due to anti-Arab statements attributed to him.

The rabbi himself categorically denies having made racist
remarks, defending some of his comments as being taken out of context while
insisting others were never uttered. "Must I as a rabbi explain why I
oppose intermarriage?" he wrote in a letter to Weinstein. "Must I
explain why I oppose same-sex marriages or support people becoming
observant?"

Weinstein does not have the authority to disqualify Eliyahu
from running for the post of Sephardi chief rabbi, since the two positions -
one Ashkenazi and the other Sephardi - are not government appointments.

Selection of the chief rabbis is made by an assembly of
public representatives. The practical result of Weinstein's stance is that if
Eliyahu is elected, the state would not defend any court challenges to the
selection.

Among the statements attributed to Eliyahu was one in a 2002
interview to the right-wing Arutz Sheva media outlet, in which he reportedly
said that all of the Arab students at the Safed Academic College should be
thrown out. "Yes, I am saying this explicitly and am not afraid of
anyone," he was quoted as saying, adding "only those who direct their
loyalty to the state are entitled to study."

In a 2004 interview to Israel Radio, Eliyahu said: "It
is forbidden to sell an apartment to an Arab. Let them live in their own area.
We [will live] in our area."

In 2010, he was quoted in Haaretz as saying in reference to
Arabs: "I don't expect them to feel that they belong. They are guests
[here]."

Eliyahu's office responded to Weinstein's assessment by
referring to In the Tisha B'Av fast day that began Monday night, commemorating
the destruction of the two Temples in Jerusalem.

"On the eve of Tisha B'Av, the attorney general has
chosen to remove the mask of official hypocrisy and trample democracy," his
office said.

Weinstein "had chosen to conduct a field court martial
trial for Rabbi Eliyahu and has turned himself into the prosecutor, judge and
hangman," and in an "unprecedented step, without authority, without a
hearing, and without verifying the allegations, created a new reality in which
a candidate that is not favored by the legal elite will not receive a [legal]
defense from the authorities," Eliyahu's office added.